which lead by a series of surprises to very effective climaxes or catastrophes. All signs of the epic methods of construction found in the early drama have disappeared; there is usually a chance until the last moment for either a happy or an unhappy ending, and in every case the dénouement or catastrophe is elaborately prepared for and complicated. The dramatis personæ belong to impossible and romantic situations rather than to life, and are usually of certain types, the sentimental or violent hero; his faithful friend, a blunt, outspoken soldier; the sentimental heroine, often a love-lorn maiden disguised as a page that she may serve the hero; the evil woman defiant in her crimes; and the poltroon, usually a comic personage." When one notes how few changes have to be made in this description to make it fit the present play, one realizes how close, questions of indebtedness apart, is its relation to the contemporary productions of Shakespeare's younger rivals. Interpretation. ... Perhaps no play better repays the student for a careful analysis of plot than does Cymbeline. Professor Wendell has written: "The last scene of Cymbeline is among the most notable bits of dramatic structure anywhere. . . . Into 485 lines Shakspere has crowded some two dozen situations any one of which would probably have been strong enough to carry a whole act." Shakespeare had been for a time dealing with tragic and historical material, and he now turned to plays in which the romantic element predominated and in which it was neces 1 The Maid's Tragedy and Philaster, ed. by A. H. Thorndike, Boston, 1906, pp. xix and xx. sary for him to use his utmost ingenuity in inventing complicated situations which should culminate in exciting crises. Cymbeline may be considered as the climax of his achievement in the contriving of such elaborate entanglements and in the adroit manipulation of the dénouement. About the sacrifice of probability which such feats of construction are apt to involve, he does not, at this stage of his career, seem to have greatly cared. Yet, though the play challenges our admiration primarily for the skilful working out of its numerous situations, and though the incidents are far from realistic, it would not be one of Shakespeare's great plays if it did not show real people. Into the intricate plot he has fitted men and women of varying dispositions that range from the stupidity of Cloten to the cleverness of Iachimo: from the craftiness of the Queen to the honesty of Imogen, with different degrees of simplicity, faithfulness, and affection on one side, and of stupidity, moral perversity, and villainy on the other. Each character, moreover, is interesting both in its own complex nature and in its relation to the situations of the play. A test of this interdependence of character and situation may be made by attempting to drop out the character of Imogen. At once almost all the significant incidents of the play except those that are purely political become meaningless, such as the banishment of Posthumus, the wager and chest incident, the potion, the vengeance of Belarius, the plotting of the Queen, the stupid acts of Cloten. The characters are all seen to have relations to Imogen, whose personality, with its chastity, truthfulness, honesty, affection, and constancy, is the one thing stable in the play. Though Posthumus is the apparent hero, Imogen is thus the central figure as well as the character of greatest charm. Her tenderness and artlessness form a wholesome contrast to the stupid plotting or crafty intrigue of opposing characters. As with others of Shakespeare's women, her weakness becomes strength because it leans upon truthfulness, honesty, and love. In his sympathetic comment upon Cymbeline, Hazlitt wrote: “The reading of this play is like going on a journey with some uncertain object at the end of it and in which the suspense is kept up and heightened by the long intervals between each action." It is not one of the author's greatest plays, but it is one of his most delightful. In each of Shakespeare's plays there is truth. In some it is happy, in others it is sad; in some the good seems to be crushed in the conflict with evil, in others it rises triumphant over all opposing forces. So it is in life. Cymbeline has a special charm for us because out of its gloom issues the victory of purity and truth, which is as consistent with the reality of life as is the terrible suffering of his greatest tragedies. [DRAMATIS PERSONÆ CYMBELINE, king of Britain. CLOTEN, Son to the Queen by a former husband. POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, a gentleman, husband to Imogen. BELARIUS, a banished lord disguised under the name of Morgan. GUIDERIUS, sons to Cymbeline, disguised under the name of Polydore PHILARIO, friend to Posthumus, IACHIMO, friend to Philario, Italians. CAIUS LUCIUS, general of the Roman forces. PISANIO, servant to Posthumus. CORNELIUS, a physician. A Roman Captain. Two British Captains. A Frenchman, friend to Philario. Two Lords of Cymbeline's court. QUEEN, wife to Cymbeline. IMOGEN, daughter to Cymbeline by a former Queen. HELEN, a lady attending on Imogen. Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators, Tribunes, a Soothsayer, a Dutchman, a Spaniard, Musicians, Officers, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. Apparitions. SCENE: Britain; Rome.] 2 1 |